Panthers say RB Brooks won’t play in preseason

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Carolina Panthers second-round pick Jonathon Brooks, who had surgery in November to repair an ACL injury suffered while at the University of Texas, will not play during the preseason and his status for the opener is doubtful at best.

Coach Dave Canales did not give an exact timeline for when the player Carolina traded up in the second round to select would be ready, but he indicated “something around” Week 3 or 4 made sense.

“This is a guy with a long career in front of him, somebody we think really high about, so we want to be really smart with him,” Canales said following Saturday’s practice.

Brooks began training camp on the physically unable to perform list, something Canales said was the plan all along.

“It’s something we expected,” Canales said. “Coming into the spring, we knew just the timeline and progression of where he was at. We knew we would not have him for the preseason.

“Even if he was kind of ready, there’s a confidence thing that we want to ramp him up little by little so he feels ready to go.”

Canales did not rule out Brooks coming off the active/non-football injury list before the opener. Any player that is on the physically unable to perform list when the season begins has to sit out at least the first four games.

“The on-field progression, the type of cuts, maybe running versus change of direction, that whole thing has got to be right,” Canales said. “That’s going to be the determining factor into how soon we can get him back.”

Brooks was considered the best back in the draft after rushing for 1,139 yards and 10 touchdowns in 10 games. The Panthers sent the 52nd pick (second round) and two fifth-round picks to the Indianapolis Colts to get him at 46.

Chuba Hubbard, Carolina’s leading rusher last season, and Miles Sanders will carry the running game until Brooks is ready. But Canales hasn’t backed down from his draft-day comment that Brooks will play a big role in the long-term future of his offense.

“Physically, this is a guy that can make an impact for us,” Canales said. “So we want to be really smart about when we bring him back in.”